Calculation of the Basic State
Pension
|
A full Basic State Pension
To obtain a full Basic State Pension your number of qualifying
years must exceed 90% of your 'working lifetime'. An individuals
'working lifetime' is calculated by subtracting 16 from their State
Pension Age. So for a man the working lifetime is always 49 (i.e. 65
less 16 = 49). For a woman the working lifetime could be anywhere
between 44 (for those whose state pension age is 60) to 49 (for
those whose state pension age is 65).
Therefore for a man to obtain a full Basic State Pension he
needs at least 49 * 90% = 44 qualifying years. A woman needs
somewhere between 39 and 44 qualifying years for a full Basic State
Pension the exact amount being dependent upon her date of birth (see
State Pension Age notes above).
A reduced Basic State Pension
If you do not have enough qualifying years for a full Basic State
Pension then it is reduced. The fraction of the full pension that
you receive depends on your number of qualifying years and your
working lifetime. To see the
fractions which apply to different numbers of qualifying years go to
the next page of the guide.
If you have not paid enough
class 1
or
class 2 national insurance contributions to qualify for a full
BSP then you may be able to pay additional
class 3
contributions to increase your BSP.
The table below
shows the percentage of the full Basic State Pension available
dependent upon your working lifetime (shown from left to right) and
the number of qualifying years you have at retirement (going down
the side).
So if for example you were a woman whose
SPA was 63 (hence a working life of 63 - 16 = 47) and had a total
number of qualifying years at retirement of 32. You would be
entitled to 77% of the full Basic State Pension. If you were a single person
retiring today that would mean a Basic State Pension of 77% *
£4,027.40 = £3,101.10.
Remember if you have other income this amount may be
taxed
.
Number of
|
Number of years in your working life
|
qualifying years
|
44
|
45
|
46
|
47
|
48
|
49
|
6
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
7
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
8
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
9
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
10
|
25%
|
25%
|
25%
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
Nil
|
11
|
29%
|
28%
|
27%
|
27%
|
26%
|
25%
|
12
|
31%
|
30%
|
30%
|
29%
|
28%
|
28%
|
13
|
34%
|
33%
|
32%
|
31%
|
31%
|
30%
|
14
|
36%
|
35%
|
35%
|
34%
|
33%
|
32%
|
15
|
39%
|
38%
|
37%
|
36%
|
35%
|
35%
|
16
|
42%
|
40%
|
40%
|
39%
|
38%
|
37%
|
17
|
44%
|
43%
|
42%
|
41%
|
40%
|
39%
|
18
|
47%
|
45%
|
44%
|
43%
|
42%
|
41%
|
19
|
49%
|
48%
|
47%
|
46%
|
45%
|
44%
|
20
|
52%
|
50%
|
49%
|
48%
|
47%
|
46%
|
21
|
54%
|
53%
|
52%
|
50%
|
49%
|
48%
|
22
|
57%
|
55%
|
54%
|
53%
|
52%
|
50%
|
23
|
59%
|
58%
|
57%
|
55%
|
54%
|
53%
|
24
|
62%
|
60%
|
59%
|
58%
|
56%
|
55%
|
25
|
65%
|
63%
|
61%
|
60%
|
59%
|
57%
|
26
|
67%
|
65%
|
64%
|
62%
|
61%
|
60%
|
27
|
70%
|
68%
|
66%
|
65%
|
63%
|
62%
|
28
|
72%
|
70%
|
69%
|
67%
|
66%
|
64%
|
29
|
75%
|
73%
|
71%
|
70%
|
68%
|
66%
|
30
|
77%
|
75%
|
74%
|
72%
|
70%
|
69%
|
31
|
80%
|
78%
|
76%
|
74%
|
73%
|
71%
|
32
|
83%
|
80%
|
79%
|
77%
|
75%
|
73%
|
33
|
85%
|
83%
|
81%
|
79%
|
77%
|
75%
|
34
|
88%
|
85%
|
83%
|
81%
|
80%
|
78%
|
35
|
90%
|
88%
|
86%
|
84%
|
82%
|
80%
|
36
|
93%
|
90%
|
88%
|
86%
|
84%
|
82%
|
37
|
95%
|
93%
|
91%
|
89%
|
87%
|
85%
|
38
|
98%
|
95%
|
93%
|
91%
|
89%
|
87%
|
39
|
100%
|
98%
|
96%
|
93%
|
91%
|
89%
|
40
|
100%
|
100%
|
98%
|
96%
|
94%
|
91%
|
41
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
98%
|
96%
|
94%
|
42
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
98%
|
96%
|
43
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
98%
|
44
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
45 or more
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
To find out what level of Basic State Pension you might get
simply work out your working lifetime. Using the column in the
table which corresponds to that working lifetime look along the
row corresponding with your number of qualifying years to find
out the percentage of the full BSP which will apply.
|
|
|
|
|
Use our online calculator
to get an estimate of your basic state pension.
Its free and
simple to use you can even include it on your own website!
|
|
|
Tell a friend about
Essential Pensions. Send an automatic message to your friends
email account about the site.
|
|
|
If you have a pensions
related question then please let us
know.
If it's something other people
would find useful then we will post an answer in our Frequently Asked Question
(FAQ) area.
|
|
|
Read the guide to
investment in the pensions guide. It explains what you need to
think about before investing for your retirement.
|
|
